David Luiz claims staff members at Chelsea begged him to come back to the club shortly after he took the decision to cross London and link up with Arsenal in the summer of 2019.

The Brazil international had 12 months left to run on his contract with the Blues when taking the decision to bid farewell to Stamford Bridge for a second time.

Back in 2014 the South American completed a big-money switch to Paris Saint-Germain, only to return to familiar surroundings two years later.

A further 105 appearances were made for the Blues, with a Premier League title triumph enjoyed along the way, before another new challenge was sought.

Arsenal have provided that, with Luiz determined to achieve “big things” with the Gunners.

The 32-year-old has, however, revealed that he found it difficult to sever ties with Chelsea and was called back to west London by close friends once the decision was made to swap blue for red.

Luiz told Otro: “I can be honest with you, the first three days or week was not easy to understand all the emotions or how I was feeling, because everybody knows my history with Chelsea.

“I had this connection with everyone at the club. It was so massive and big and I was missing every single one.

“Every text message I was receiving, people were saying: ‘Come back, come back, come back, come back, we are here for you’.

“I give you the example of a gentleman there who is 75 years old. He was having breakfast with me at the time when he had the opportunity.

“He was texting me: ‘I am still waiting for you here to have breakfast again’.

“This kind of thing was so difficult for me, because I am someone that sees the heart as the most important thing.

“But then after that, in the professional way, I was saying: ‘It is a new moment for you. It is another big thing for you to do. Maybe if you stay in the comfort zone it is not going to be the best thing for you?’”

Having had time to reflect, Luiz believes making a move to Arsenal was the best decision for him.

He has made no secret of his desire to bring good times back for the Gunners, adding on his ambition: “It was a top decision. [Arsenal] are a big club. I want to make this club improve and to shine again. The first days were difficult but after that I started to adapt.